Facial features associated with predisposition to cleft lip.

Teratologic studies have led to the hypothesis that, in the mouse, face shape is the underlying basis for the susceptibility to cleft lip. To see if this may hold true in man superficial facial dimensions, face shape and relation of lips have been recorded in a series of parents of children with cleft lip and in a control population. Preliminary results suggest that there are differences between the two populations that support the hypothesis.